The daily business briefing: March 11, 2016

(Image credit: Facebook.com/DiGiorno)

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1. Wounded Warrior Project fires top two executives
2. Nestle recalls frozen pizzas and lasagnas
3. Jury tells energy company to pay $4.2 million in fracking lawsuit
4. Ford upgrades armor on police cruisers
5. Anadarko to cut 1,000 jobs in oil downturn

published 11 March 2016

1. Wounded Warrior Project fires top two executives

The Wounded Warrior Project's board of directors fired CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano on Thursday in the wake of a CBS News investigation into the organization's lavish spending on parties and conferences. CBS found that the Wounded Warrior Project, which has raised more than $1 billion since 2003, spends 40 to 50 percent of donations on overhead, compared to overhead costs of 10 to 15 percent at other veterans charities. Former employees told CBS News the lavish spending started when Nardizzi took over as CEO in 2009.

Nestle USA is recalling nearly three million boxes of frozen DiGiorno pizzas, Stouffer's lasagnas, and Lean Cuisine meals because customers have found glass in some packages of the foods. No injuries have been reported. Nestle said the glass might have gotten into spinach in the recalled boxes. The products include four varieties of pizzas, five Lean Cuisine meal types, four Stouffer's lasagnas, and one Stouffer's spinach souffle. The full list is available on the company's website.

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A federal jury ruled Thursday that Cabot Oil & Gas Co must pay two Pennsylvania families more than $4.2 million in damages for groundwater pollution from the company's fracking operations. The families are from Dimock, Pennsylvania, which was featured in the Emmy-winning 2010 anti-fracking documentary Gasland. The couples — Scott Ely and Monica Marta-Ely, and Ray and Victoria Hubert — fought Cabot for years. "If they had just done the right thing, it would have been so much easier for them," Scott Ely said.

Ford said Thursday that it was upgrading shielding in doors on its police cruisers to protect against armor-piercing bullets. The move comes in the wake of numerous high-profile shootings of police officers and others with high-powered assault-type rifles. "Officers, globally, told us they needed protection from armor-piercing ammunition, and we added ballistic protection to an already great product," said Arie Groeneveld, chief engineer for Ford's police car lineup. Police often use car doors as shields in dangerous situations, including shootouts.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is laying off about 1,000 workers as low oil and gas prices continue to shake up the industry. The job cuts mark the latest in a series of cost reductions at the third largest U.S. natural gas producer. Andarko already has made plans to idle rigs, cut dividends, and sell some assets. U.S. shale drillers from Devon Energy Corp. to Chesapeake Energy Corp. also have announced layoffs in a crisis that has cost more than 250,000 jobs globally.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.